That number is way more than the $12-15 billion estimate that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cited in January and double the estimated $10 billion that Trump himself stated.
There was a Planet Money podcast where they asked the owner of a company that builds walls how much time/money/resources it would take to implement Trump’s wall. By the end of the episode his support for the abstract wall had waned once he had done a rough back of the napkin estimate for getting it built.
He’s kinda like this:
This was his first campaign issue!! Build a wall!!
I saw that earlier today, and I nearly flipped off my phone. That’s how pissed I was at their stupidity.
classic Schrödinger’s Douchebag: say something horrid, then decide whether or not it was “just a joke” once people react.
Check out the stupidity of this.
I can’t imagine any contractor would willingly take on this project. They’d be hounded in the press and there’s a distinct possibility they wouldn’t ever get paid. Also, how many of their employees (legal or not) are from Mexico? Especially if they’re already located in the area. I mean, maybe they could get…
. . . the President said “The wall is getting designed right now. A lot of people say, oh, oh, Trump was only kidding with the wall. I wasn’t kidding. I don’t kid. I don’t kid.”
If he hadn’t pissed off China, he could have had it made there and shipped over. I’m beginning to think he’s bad at the business.
He doesn’t care about anything but winning— and being seen as a winner. Or, more specifically, NOT being seen losing. He doesn’t give a fuck about the travel ban, but now he’s locked into this trip, so he will pitch tantrum after tantrum to avoid being seen as a loser.
In theory? Yes. In practice? Well, especially now that people have unprecedented, instant visibility to rulings, who made them and why, and what their immediate effects will be on them, it’s just not possible for public opinion to not play a role, at least subconsciously. Gay marriage just would not have passed 15…
GOOD SHIT GOOD SHIT GOOD SHIT
Let’s be clear that the protests and letters and calls and demonstrations helped here. Judges are DEFINITELY aware of public opinion in cases like these.
I don’t think he really cares about the travel ban itself BUT since he signed it - he really really wants to show the world he’s the big bad boss and always gets his way. Losing in court just proved to everyone he’s not the big bad boss he thinks he is and that is what is going to keep him up at night. And I LOVE IT!
You have to try real hard as a President to lose a fucking case like this. Immigration + National Security = Extreme Deference to the President. I’ll bet none of these judges ever thought they’d be involved in a case involving immigration and national security in which they even came close to considering…